Bacteria resistant automatically self sanitizing oral care appliance

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a toothbrush with oligodynamic properties. This is achieved with a small current produced as a result of the dissimilar materials from which it is constructed. A small piece of zinc metal. attached to the device at a specified location acts as a sacrificial anode in order for any corrosion which will naturally occur, to occur at the replaceable anode, and nowhere else on the toothbrush. The bristles of the tooth brush are much longer than those of a conventional toothbrush in order to spend a longer period of time in contact with the teeth and gums thereby causing the desired effect to be more pronounced.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation in part of application Ser. No. 16/602,264 and claims benefit of co-pending Provisional Patent Application No. 62/765,530 filed on Sep. 4, 2018, entitled BACTERIA RESISTANT AUTOMATICALLY SELF SANITIZING ORAL CARE APPLIANCE that application being incorporated herein, by reference, in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an oral or dental care device, in particular, that device which is commonly referred to as a toothbrush.

Description of the Related Art

It is a well known fact that tooth decay is the result of bacteria deposited on the teeth from food and drink, especially sugary drinks. Tooth decay is prevalent throughout the world and even with all of the advances in tooth care now available, there is no decrease in dentists. Through negligence, that is, not regularly cleaning the teeth, these bacteria will erode the protective enamel of the tooth and cause pits or cavities to form, thereby resulting in the necessity for expensive professional dental care.

The normal preventative measure taken to prevent bacteria from remaining on the teeth, is a regular cleaning or brushing of the teeth, preferably after each meal and before bedtime, using a toothbrush in combination with one of the myriad brands of toothpaste. This good practice works well, and in most cases, does prevent cavities. However, after the brushing, bacteria remains on the toothbrush and is possibly transferred again to the teeth the next time it is used. This is also why it is unheard of to use someone else's toothbrush.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,442,775 to Robinson teaches a toothbrush utilizing wire for bristles. The wire is defined as “superelastic”, being constructed from a nickel-titanium alloy. This type of wire was originally manufactured for the medical field for use in the manufacture of stents used in cardiovascular purposes. Its advantage was that this wire had the ability to stretch and return to its original shape at the temperature most common to the human body, 37 degrees C. There is no clear explanation as to why this would be advantageous in the use of a toothbrush; however it is preferred by Robinson. Robinson further discloses that the bristles formed of this wire are of uneven length, that is to say some bristles are longer than others. This idea was also disclosed by Plotka U.S.2011/0138554A in Jun. 16, 2011. The shaped memory alloy wire bristles of Robinson are stated to be installed at fixation points, separate a minimum distance, however the means or method of attachment of the bristles shown in the drawing figures to these fixation point, or what can otherwise be interpreted as micron sized holes, is not disclosed anywhere in the document, a disadvantage. The complexity of the disclosure will result in an expensive manufacturing cost, another disadvantage. Regarding Plotka, no patent is disclosed, however a publication of the patent application is referred to. Both Robinson and Plotka make use of microbial nanoparticles of zinc, silver, or copper by embedding these nanoparticles within the bristles for the purpose of creating an anti-microbial environment. These coatings have a tendency to wear off in a short period of time, thereby shortening the useful life of the device, thereby creating another disadvantage.

Another prior art disclosure Dreisen et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,589 in contrast to the previously disclosed art, concentrates on the mounting of bristles composed of bacteria killing wire with a “separate attachment means” which appears to be a small collar of silver at its base of each tuft of bristles secured with silver anchoring plates, thereby resulting in the oligodynamic effect. Another part, the bristle carrier, is silver as well, another expense and time consumption of manufacture, thereby another disadvantage. Along the same line of thought, yet slightly different than Dreisen is a Korean disclosure KR 16-02 8181781 of 2/15, actually a publication describing an anti bacterial toothbrush. The toothbrush bristles are comprised of synthetic resins of silver coatings placed upon an anti bacterial member which also functions as a bristle holding means. As with Dreisen, this extra part simply increases complexity as well as time needed for the manufacturing process, a disadvantage.

This leaves but one remaining disclosure, Burgov, RU-214121238 of 11/99. The Bugrov patent is unique in that it teaches, as opposed to other disclosures, that a toothbrush with oligodynamic properties can function as a germ killer inside the oral cavity, that is, the mouth. This is accomplished by using the dissimilar metals from which it is composed, combined with a separate brass component to create a flowing, low amperage galvanic current, which is alleged to kill germs. A problem occurs if this separate brass component ever is lost or misplaced, a realistic scenario and distinct possibility. If this situation ever occurs, then an error is produced, and the brush loses its germ killing capabilities. Further, if this separate brass piece is left in the assigned place of design, then the brush will suffer what is known as anodic dissolution, (Burgovs' words). This presents a major disadvantage.

It is no surprise that none of the above mentioned disclosures have not appeared at the market place, at least in the U.S.A. The several disadvantages had to be known by the creators of these devices, including the extensive use of silver, a great expense in mass production, expense being the chief obstacle. Another issue plaguing all of the above disclosures other than Bugrov is the principle of oligodynamic, that is to say, germ killing metals. Each and every mentioned or disclosed toothbrush can achieve the function of killing germs when not in use without doubt that is, while it sits alone, not in use. Only Bugrov purposely teaches germ or microbe elimination during actual use within the oral cavity or mouth. This capability is necessary if the toothbrush is to be truly effective. Otherwise, simply placing the bristles of an ordinary tooth brush in contact with a germicidal element or even boiling water will have a germ killing effect, thus a simple way of eliminating the need, expense, and complexity of oligodynamic toothbrushes altogether. What is needed is a true germ and bacteria killing toothbrush which kills germs not only while inactive or not in use, but while being used within the mouth. Such a toothbrush which eliminates high cost of manufacture, therefore inexpensive, eliminating complexity, thereby providing simplicity while remaining effective as a true germ killer is described in detail herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is necessary to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art. This is accomplished by eliminating complexity. The toothbrush handle and bristle carrier will be comprised of a one piece stamped, perforated, metallic element. The stamping, which gives the metal component its form, and the perforations, which are locations to place the bristles are completed in one operation, thus saving time. The formed, perforated metallic element is now ready to accept the bristle tufts, which are manufactured in a separate operation. This procedure involves gathering several separate wire bristles, approximately 20 in number, and binding them together at one end with a low flowing temperature, silver bearing solder. The solder which binds the bristles together, forming a tuft, also serves as the medium which retains the tuft within the prior made perforations. The required number of tufts is placed in the perforations until the task is completed. Next, and finally, a section of zinc is attached to the handle at a specified location. The attachment means can be a metal screw or possibly a rivet. This section of zinc serves as a sacrificial anode which prevents corrosion from occurring anywhere else on the device. Once assembled according to these instructions the part assumes the form of a functional toothbrush with oligodynamic characteristics.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a tooth brush that is resistant to bacteria and is therefore self sanitizing as well, while both in use and not in use.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as a bacteria resistant toothbrush, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an exploded, isometric or perspective view of the inventive bacteria resistant self sanitizing toothbrush illustrating all of its functional components.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the invention with emphasis on the location and means of securing the sacrificial anode.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the invention showing the bristle tuft retaining perforations on a stamped metallic element.

FIG. 4 illustrates the components comprising a tuft of bristles including silver soldered bristles comprising an insertion end.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment, the basic components of the toothbrush are shown, where 10 is the invention. 11 is the shaped and perforated metallic component which serves as a handle to hold the toothbrush and a holder for the tufts of bristles 13. Perforations 12 are located at one distal end of the shaped metallic component are for the purpose of retaining tufts 13 by means of a combination of the perforations and the soldered ends 14 of the tufts. This is accomplished by inserting the tuft into the perforation and re heating the soldered tuft end 14 until the solder on it flows and secures the tuft in place. Preferably the stamping operation is simultaneous with the creation of the perforations, that is to say both operations are completed at once. The bristles 20 are composed of a nearly hair thin fine wire. A common type wire to use is EDM wire illustrated in FIG. 4 as part of tuft 13. Each tuft is assembled by gathering together a group of approximately 20 wire bristles and binding them together at one end with a low temperature, silver bearing solder, thereby forming the tuft 14. The insertion end of the tuft is shown in FIG. 4. It is important to understand that each bristle 20 is of a length at least double the size of bristles on a conventional, ordinary toothbrush. The reason for this being is that this causes the bristle to spend more contact time on the teeth and gums, thereby improving the germ killing effect. The low temperature silver bearing solder serves as the means of securing tuft 13 into perforation 12 of metallic component 11. The use of silver as the bonding agent is the origin of the galvanic action occurring in the device. Galvanic dissolution is prevented by placement of a sacrificial anode 15 at a specific location shown on the device in the drawing figures. 

1. From a selection including mild steel, brass, copper, silver, or gold, a stamped formed metallic piece with the piece including a plurality of perforations on one distal end of the piece, the perforations for the purpose of accepting bristle tufts to be secured to the perforations
 2. The invention recited in claim 1 further including the placement of a zinc sacrificial anode at a preselected location on the metallic piece.
 3. The invention recited in claim 1 wherein wire bristle tufts are secured to the perforations on the metallic piece by means of a low flowing temperature silver bearing solder. 